kyletherobot Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Haha. Your bowing down to yourself?! I think that I'm just as committed as you though, I live in Sheffield and support Barnsley but I made almost every home match (+ several away matches) last season. Commitment shouldn't be based solely on distance travelled.
BlueStar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 So anyone who doesn't live right next to the team they support isn't a real fan. Right. Gotcha. There are genuine exiles. There are also many more people who at some point have just jumped on the bandwagon of a sucessful club because it's easy and, yes, they aren't real fans in my opinion - in spite of excuses like "My grandmother's from there" as if their gran coming from Stockport would have rendered them a County fan. But then they don't get as much out of following their club as real fans do, so it's self defeating. You need to have a damn good reason not to support a club you have no direct regional link to in my opinion.
Noodleman Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Another whoring of the Euro 2008 Fantasy Football league there are friendlys tomorrow that you can get points for. http://www.n-europe.com/forum/showthread.php?p=755937#post755937
conzer16 Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 There are genuine exiles. There are also many more people who at some point have just jumped on the bandwagon of a sucessful club because it's easy and, yes, they aren't real fans in my opinion - in spite of excuses like "My grandmother's from there" as if their gran coming from Stockport would have rendered them a County fan. But then they don't get as much out of following their club as real fans do, so it's self defeating. You need to have a damn good reason not to support a club you have no direct regional link to in my opinion. I'm a Leeds United fan. Always have been, always will be. Been in Yorkshire 3 times. All to see them play. No direct regional link at all.
MoogleViper Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 There are genuine exiles. There are also many more people who at some point have just jumped on the bandwagon of a sucessful club because it's easy and, yes, they aren't real fans in my opinion - in spite of excuses like "My grandmother's from there" as if their gran coming from Stockport would have rendered them a County fan. But then they don't get as much out of following their club as real fans do, so it's self defeating. You need to have a damn good reason not to support a club you have no direct regional link to in my opinion. Why? How many Man U players are from Manchester? The only regional link most clubs have is the stadium.
Eddage Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 To be honest I couldn't care less if some one else labels me a 'non' supporter. I've supported Man United all my life, despite living in Somerset and whilst I can't actually remember when I started supporting them (I can remember the 94 FA Cup final against Chelsea) it probably was because I had heard them on the news after they had won something. Despite this though I will always support them, no matter what happens. I still like to see teams closer to me do well, for example I went to see Yeovil Town in the league 1 play-off final last year and I would absolutely love it if Bristol City got promoted to the Premiership tomorrow, but whatever happens Man United will always be my number one team. I may have only seen them play once, that being an away game at Villa as well, but for me the fact that I feel absolutely gutted, as if a part of me has been wrenched out when they lose and the overwhelming joy I feel when they win (I've still got a smile on my face about winning the Premier League, never mind the Champions league) tells me, in my heart, that I am a proper supporter. So I don't live in Manchester, who cares? As long as someone sticks with the team that they choose and don't go changing just because they don't win something that year then as far as I'm concerned they can be regarded as proper fan.
BlueStar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 The only regional link most clubs have is the stadium. Apart from the fact they're representing that city, were formed by people from that city, originally consisted of players just from that city, employ people from that city, bring money and tourism to that city... The regional link to me is absolutely crucial. The club is part of the identity of the city and its people and the people and the city are part of the identity of the club. I can no more imagine supporting a different city's team than I could imagine supporting France or Italy in the world cup. I understand some people think differently and it must be tempting to support someone elses team.
MoogleViper Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Apart from the fact they're representing that city, were formed by people from that city, originally consisted of players just from that city, employ people from that city, bring money and tourism to that city... The regional link to me is absolutely crucial, I can no more imagine supporting a different city's team than I could imagine supporting France or Italy in the world cup. I understand some people think differently and it must be tempting to support someone elses team. When you watch Man U play how many mancs are you watching?
BlueStar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 On the pitch or in the crowd? My point is that no matter where the players come from, they're playing for an representing that city. I do accept some people have a genuine affinity for a certain club for a genuine reason, although I find it easier to believe that when it's a club which hasn't been consistantly or recently winning things and more inclined to roll my eyes if they have.
MoogleViper Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 On the pitch or in the crowd? My point is that no matter where the players come from, they're playing for an representing that city. I do accept some people have a genuine affinity for a certain club for a genuine reason, although I find it easier to believe that when it's a club which hasn't been consistantly or recently winning things and more inclined to roll my eyes if they have. I meant on the pitch. If a player from 5000 miles away can "represent" the club then why can't a person from 200 miles away "support" the club?
BlueStar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 That player is playing for the people of that city, they're playing for a club named after the city, based in the heritage of that city, created by that city. People can support who they want but if you've just latched on to Man U from London because you think they're going to win things for you you're going to have to face up to the fact that people won't respect that and your celebrations are going to be empty compared to the people who the club is representing. These are clubs that go back hundreds of years to a time when you couldn't just fly up for a match or switch on the TV to watch a team, when a football club was just that - a local club for people who wanted to play or watch football and represent their area, to pit their local lads from those of other cities. The rivalries between teams are often based not simply on proximety but social and political differences between groups of people and different areas. That's why football teams become something for the people from an area to gather around, show their pride in who they are and test their club against the club of another group of people. It's not just a company vieing for business from others by selling a certain brand or quality of football and who just happens to have an address in a certain place and take its name from there. It's not like picking O2 or Vodaphone depending on which has the better rates, or being a fan of My Chemical Romance or Daft Punk depending on which you like better. (Edited and added to this heavily )
Eddage Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Apart from the fact they're representing that city, were formed by people from that city, originally consisted of players just from that city, employ people from that city, bring money and tourism to that city... The regional link to me is absolutely crucial. The club is part of the identity of the city and its people and the people and the city are part of the identity of the club. I can no more imagine supporting a different city's team than I could imagine supporting France or Italy in the world cup. I understand some people think differently and it must be tempting to support someone elses team. I have lived in a small village called Blackford all my life. We used to have a Sunday league team about 15 years ago, I suppose I should have supported them when they were about and now they no longer exist am I just meant to support no one? Not everyone lives in a city with a big football club!
BlueStar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Not everyone lives in a city with a big football club! Of course not, but that doesn't mean people need to go for the default team of Man United, there's still pride in picking your nearest league team and it means you can engage with the club day to day. I was born in Newcastle but I live in Whitley Bay now and although I do go to some Bay matches and follow their progress I don't begrudge people who lived there all their life supporting Newcastle or Sunderland. There are hundreds of league clubs in the country and they've got a fairly wide catchment area, it's a cop-out to say "Oh, my little hamlet doesn't have a professional club, Man U or Liverpool it is then. Hooray. We won. "
Charlie Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I have lived in a small village called Blackford all my life. We used to have a Sunday league team about 15 years ago, I suppose I should have supported them when they were about and now they no longer exist am I just meant to support no one? Not everyone lives in a city with a big football club! Bristol and Cardiff are both relatively close to you. You don't have to support a big club. Celtic aren't geographically the closest club to me, Partick Thistle and Stirling Albion are both closer, but, they are still a local club being in the big city which is 20 miles from me and coupling that with the Catholic factor, there's no other team I could support. I still check Stirling Albion's results every week as I used to go and see them because we go free tickets through our school and also Queen of the South's matches as I was born in Dumfries and go down there regularly.
Eddage Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Bristol and Cardiff are both relatively close to you. You don't have to support a big club. Celtic aren't geographically the closest club to me, Partick Thistle and Stirling Albion are both closer, but, they are still a local club being in the big city which is 20 miles from me and coupling that with the Catholic factor, there's no other team I could support. I still check Stirling Albion's results every week as I used to go and see them because we go free tickets through our school and also Queen of the South's matches as I was born in Dumfries and go down there regularly. Its not that I've disregarded Bristol City (I have disregarded Bristol Rovers though ), as I said earlier I want them to do well and would love to see them promoted tomorrow. As for Cardiff though, well that would mean going to Wales! I've already admitted that I probably chose to support Man United because they were a big club. I wasn't brought up to support a specific club so when I started getting into football and wanted a club to support I didn't really know much apart from the biggest clubs, because they're the ones you hear about the most and therefore fairly likely to latch onto, I didn't know much about the cubs closer to me because they were in the lower leagues and so didn't hear about them much. I'm not disagreeing with the fact that you should support your local team and want them to do well, my point is that you can be a supporter of a club further a field and not have to be talked down to constantly and labelled as glory supporter, etc. I have stuck by Man United all my life (I know that doesn't sound like much since they've remained successful) but even if something were to happen and they were relegated whilst Bristol City started winning FA Cups, etc I would still say I am a Man United supporter, whilst obviously being pleased for City.
Ramar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I can't understand why fans support clubs that aren't within travelling distance, whats the point being a fan if you're not going to go to matches.. I've been going to see Arsenal since '95, at first only a few games a season, up to now where its practically every week. It's become part of me now, and I can't see it any other way.
Eddage Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I can't understand why fans support clubs that aren't within travelling distance, whats the point being a fan if you're not going to go to matches.. I was about 5 at the time, travelling distance didn't really enter my mind...
Haver Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I think I'm going to call you out on that one BlueStar. I think pride is important, and I can understand the magic of sport bringing a town together (just read Friday Night Lights), but geography isn't everything. It just makes you sound like a Nazi. I support the Seahawks in the NFL for (originally) trivial reasons but I can honestly say every game is agonizing to watch because it has come to mean so much. Geography really has nothing to do with it. I support Manchester City at football, despite the fact I've never been to Manchester (born on the outskirts of London, grew up in S.Yorks), and again originally for trivial reasons, but now ten years on I feel every goal and every defeat. The whole idea of geographical identity is boring and causes too much trouble.
BlueStar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Well we'll have to disagree because I think that historically geography has everything to do with it. Location is the identity of the team and the team is the identity of the location.
Eddage Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Well we'll have to disagree because I think that historically geography has everything to do with it. Location is the identity of the team and the team is the identity of the location. Maybe you should stop living in the past?
Ramar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Maybe you should stop living in the past? Are you suggesting football fans shouldn't have the hearts and minds in the past? The fact that a clubs strength is its history, I find this quite baffling.
Eddage Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 It was just an off hand comment and I only meant it in the sense that historically people would only support their local team. Obviously a clubs history is very important, its certainly not everything though.
BlueStar Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Yes, maybe we should just embrace the Sky generation, where armchair fans are more important than people who go to games (ie moving kick offs to 12pm to fit more games on the telly, ignoring the fact that the away fans then have to get into a major city centre at the other end of the country by mid-morning)
Eddage Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Its obvious that you're not gonna see it other peoples way so I'm just gonna stop trying, but maybe you should stop thinking of yourself as some sort of higher being when it comes to football fans and try to accept the fact that people who don't live on their teams doorstep can be passionate about the team they support.
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